


toil & trouble

by roguerie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Post Hogwarts AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8429377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguerie/pseuds/roguerie
Summary: Yamaguchi Tadashi, Potions apprentice, and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.(For HQ!! Rare Pairs Halloween Fest 2016!)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for HQ!! Rare Pairs Halloween Fest, using the "potions" prompt! ♥ HP is my one true love so I am a little nervous to be dabbling in this AU, but here we go!

_“The potion drunk by lovers is prepared by no one but themselves.”_

~*~

“This is really...” Shimada starts, voice uncertain.

Tadashi feels the first waves of panic rise up within him. He looks down into the cauldron and then back up at Shimada, waiting for him to finish his thought, but Shimada doesn’t. He furrows his brows and uses his wand to direct the contents of Tadashi’s latest assignment in a stirring motion. He tilts his head as he bends over the cauldron and makes a thoughtful _hmm_ noise, which frankly doesn’t help Tadashi’s nerves at all. He loves that sound, when Shimada is concentrating deeply and doesn’t realize how far away he’s gone. Shimada tilts his head the other way and starts a series of complicated wand movements, muttering to himself as he does so.

Tadashi feels like he’s going to explode as he waits for Shimada’s verdict. His assignment had been to brew a healing potion to cure the common cold, similar to Pepperup Potion but more subdued and soothing for sensitive patients. He’s about five seconds to bursting point when Shimada straightens up, brows still drawn together in confusion.

“Well, Tadashi… It smells right, and it reacts like it ought to, but…” Despite the use of his given name, Tadashi feels his heart drop pitifully in his chest.

“It’s very… _pink_ ,” Shimada finishes. 

“Oh,” Tadashi replies, very intelligently of course. “It’s not supposed to be?” 

Shimada shakes his head with a laugh, but his smile isn’t unkind. It never is.

“No. It should be pea green, almost like soup.”

“...Oh.” 

“Well, that’s fine. Could just be a small mismeasurement, since the texture is correct,” Shimada says quickly, an obvious attempt to lighten the atmosphere and recover Tadashi’s mood. Tadashi starts to smile back at him when the potion fizzes loudly and emits a burst of sparkling steam. Tadashi is pretty sure it’s not supposed to do that, and judging by the slightly dismayed look on Shimada’s face, he’s correct.

“Maybe I should just start over from scratch,” Tadashi suggests after a moment, and he’s unable to keep the hint of despair out of his voice now. Shimada shakes his head and pats Tadashi’s shoulder consolingly.

“You’re always so precise, Tadashi, maybe some of the ingredients just weren’t fresh. Here, I’ll try a sip, I have a bit of a cold coming on...” He conjures a small ladle and immediately dips it into the shining liquid.

“Shimada-san, are you really sure that’s a good idea-” But it’s too late; Shimada is already raising the ladle to take a small mouthful. He swallows, and Tadashi has to look away so he won’t watch the way his throat works. A glazed look crosses over Shimada’s face before being replaced with one of mild panic.

“What? What happened? Are you alright?” Tadashi’s voice goes up-up-up as Shimada regards him with wide eyes. _Oh god, I poisoned my mentor slash crush, oh god, oh my god?!_

“What kind of mint did you put in this, Tadashi?”

“Oh,” Tadashi says, feeling a hint of unease. The ingredients had called for peppermint, but he’d substituted with-

“Chocolate mint?” He’d used chocolate mint because the smell is more soothing, which is the whole point of the potion…

Shimada closes his eyes for a brief second and inhales deeply.

“Alright. You need to go for a walk while this hits and runs its course.”

“What?! No! What if something happens to you? I’m definitely staying!” Tadashi fires back, horrified at the very thought of leaving Shimada here alone to suffer whatever tragedy he had concocted in his cauldron.

“Tadashi…” Even as he’s speaking, the glazed look crosses over Shimada’s features again, but this time it seems to take hold, and whatever objection he was about to raise never comes. Tadashi’s feeling of unease grows as Shimada starts looking around the room, an absent smile on his lips.

“Um… Shimada-san?” he says, in his smallest not-a-whisper voice. Shimada rotates toward him, and when his gaze lands on Tadashi, his expression morphs from one of aimless cheer to rapturous delight.

“Tadashi!” he cries. He hurries over, and before Tadashi even realizes what is happening, Shimada has wrapped him in a crushing embrace and is _nuzzling his hair_ joyfully.

“Shimada-san?!” he squeaks into Shimada’s shoulder. Shimada squeezes him for another beat and then releases him. Tadashi backs away to a more polite distance as fast as he can.

“Shimada-san! Are you alright?” He doesn’t appear to be in pain, and he hadn’t mentioned anything about poison when he’d tried to make Tadashi go for a walk, but something is definitely afoot.

“I’m better than alright, Tadashi. I’m _in love_.” 

“In love?” Tadashi repeats, feeling confused and a little heartbroken all at once. It’s not that he has ever, ever considered the possibility of Shimada returning his feelings (that Shimada isn’t even aware of, which is just how Tadashi likes it, thank you very much), but even so…

“With you!” Said with gusto.

“With who?”

“With you, Tadashi~”

Tadashi’s face feels like it’s caught fire, and everything clicks into place: he’s accidentally brewed a _love potion_.

Panic rises up in him like dragonfire, and there’s really only one thing he can think to do. He scrambles over to the fireplace and throws in a handful of Floo powder - just enough for a fire call to Tsukishima’s flat.

“Tadashi, that sweater really suits you,” Shimada is saying as Tadashi plunges face first into the fire. “It really brings out the color of your eyes-”

“TSUKKI!!” he yells at the empty living room his head is currently in. A flash of orange pops around the corner from the kitchen, and Tadashi seizes upon the sight hopefully.

“Hinata! Is Tsukki home?”

Hinata flops down onto the sofa in front of the fireplace and nods. 

“I already called him down. What’s up?” He doesn’t look particularly concerned, but Tadashi supposes that one becomes used to his emergency fire calls when living with Tsukishima. Truthfully, Tadashi still isn’t sure how this living arrangement came to be, but he suspects it has something to do with Tsukishima’s longtime crush and his ability to get his way no matter what. _Supposedly_ they had become flatmates because the flat is in a mutually convenient location to both of their apprenticeships (Tsukishima is transfiguration and Hinata in charms)... That would have made sense if Tsukishima’s mentor hadn’t been located two doors down from the apothecary where Tadashi works with Shimada, which is nowhere near their flat at all.

Tadashi inhales deeply, ready to launch into a full explanation of the Debacle, when Tsukishima saunters into the living room, hands in his pockets. Hinata turns to him like a flower to the sun, grinning easily when Tsukishima merely quirks an eyebrow, and Tadashi thinks, not for the first time, how the universe really does work in mysterious ways. He doesn’t have time for them to moon over each other and play-fight today though.

“TSUKKI! HELP!!!”

“What happened, Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima asks in his most blasé voice.

“I was supposed to be brewing a potion for colds but I accidentally brewed a love potion instead and Shimada-san drank it?” All of this is said very fast. A moment’s pause, and then:

“BWOOOOAAAAH!” Hinata yells, sitting up straight on the sofa.

“IT’S A DISASTER,” Tadashi laments, misery crashing down around him.

Tsukishima just sighs.

“How did you manage that one? Hinata, be quiet.”

“I substituted chocolate mint for peppermint,” Tadashi replies sadly.

“Well, that was stupid,” Tsukishima states. “Obviously chocolate mint attracts and promotes love… Why? You thought the smell would be more soothing?”

“Yes,” Tadashi says quietly. His best friend is so smart it’s almost annoying. Tsukishima sighs again, which is followed by another moment of silence. Hinata’s eyes fly back and forth between them like he’s watching a Quidditch match.

“Well, it’s not like you poisoned him,” Tsukishima says finally. “Just wait for it to run its course.”

“I definitely can’t do that!” Tadashi fires back, remembering the pure elation on Shimada’s face as he made his confession. “Shimada-san doesn’t deserve this!”

Tsukishima hums thoughtfully.

“There _is_ one thing you could try…”

“What? I’ll try anything, Tsukki!” He’s not sure he can bear Shimada essentially pretending to be in love with him; it’s just too much.

“A kiss,” Tsukki says, voice even. Tadashi’s face drains of all color.

“Tsukki… I can’t,” he says, stricken.

“At least try it before you say that, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima reprimands lightly.

“I-I guess,” Tadashi concedes. He wonders which option is less mortifying: letting the potion run its course and having to hear Shimada’s forced confessions, or kissing the person he’s been more or less in love with since sixth year. Shimada’s normal face, with his usual kind smile, drifts into Tadashi’s mind, and he knows what he has to do.

“I’ll do it,” he says. Tsukishima nods. Hinata leaps off the sofa while yelling something that sounds like “GWAAAAAHHH!” 

Tadashi takes a deep breath and withdraws his head from the fire. Back in the apothecary, he looks around for Shimada - to find him sipping from the ladle in Tadashi’s cauldron.

“Shimada-san, NO!”

His sudden reappearance and accompanying outburst startle Shimada into compliance; he drops the ladle back into the cauldron and turns adoring eyes on Tadashi. Tadashi rushes over and stares into the cauldron. The level doesn’t seem to have dropped, so maybe he caught Shimada in time.

“This is delicious, Tadashi, well done!”

Apparently not.

“How much did you drink?” Tadashi asks, trying to keep the dread out of his voice.

“Just a sip before you caught me!” Shimada laughs, bright and happy, and then he _winks_ at Tadashi. This plus the thought of what he’s about to do is really too much for Tadashi to handle. He’s just one person, okay?

“Please come sit over here,” Tadashi says, guiding Shimada toward a chair with a hand on his elbow. Shimada allows himself to be maneuvered, taking the offered seat and beaming up at Tadashi.

“I’m really sorry about this, Shimada-san,” Tadashi croaks. Shimada looks adorably confused, which doesn’t help at all. But Tadashi has to do this, especially now that Shimada has taken even more of the potion. He leans forward, wetting his lips a little as he does so, and kisses Shimada gently.

Shimada makes a small, surprised noise that goes straight through Tadashi’s heart. His mouth is warm and soft, and he’s kissing Tadashi back, and Tadashi’s eyes are closing because it feels _good_ and _right_ , and _good god this is all going terribly wrong_. Tadashi breaks the kiss and jumps back, eyes flying open. For a moment, it appears to have worked; Shimada looks as bewildered as Tadashi feels. Then his brow furrows, and his lips (which are red, Tadashi notes with mild distress) form into a pout, a very non-Shimada expression.

“Tadashi… Why did you stop?”

Shimada tilts his head in a manner that is clearly meant to be coquettish; Tadashi shouldn’t find it endearing, but unfortunately he does. 

“I’m s-sorry!” Tadashi stammers out, rushing back to the fireplace and calling Tsukishima’s flat again in record time.

“ _TSUKKI!!_ ” Tadashi can’t help the desperate screech that starts before his head is even in the fire. Hinata is wincing when his head pops through, and Tsukishima just looks bored.

“It didn’t work! Kissing him didn’t work at all!”

Hinata hums in sympathy, but Tsukishima… Tsukishima is _smirking_. 

“Are you should you did it long enough?” he asks, mouth twitching.

“W-what? Yes! Definitely long enough!”

At this, Tsukishima bursts out laughing. Shocked, Tadashi just gapes at him until he’s finished and wiping his eyes behind his glasses.

“Seriously, you actually kissed him? When has that, in the history of magic, _ever_ worked?”

“Tsukki! You know I panic in an emergency!” Tadashi wails, feeling betrayed.

“Yamaguchi, this is not an emergency,” Tsukishima says. It seems to Tadashi that he is trying very hard not to roll his eyes.

“IT IS!” Tadashi yelps. “He thinks he’s in love with me!”

“Isn’t that the opposite of a problem?” Tsukishima asks with a sigh. “It’s going to be fine. It’s a potion, and if he didn’t drink that much, this will all be over soon.” 

“Tsukki…” Tadashi feels like he’s deflating. He knows that Tsukishima is right, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling terrible, like an evil seductress or something. 

“So if kisses never work,” Hinata says suddenly, voice thoughtful. Both Tadashi and Tsukishima turn to stare at him. “Does that mean last week when you said-”

“Yamaguchi! Go take care of Shimada-san!” Tsukishima says, voice suddenly much higher than usual. Tadashi is somewhat appeased by how discomfited his best friend appears in response to Hinata’s impending line of questioning.

“Thanks for all your _help_ , Tsukki,” he quips, withdrawing from the fire again. Back in the apothecary, he finds Shimada kneeling next to him and looking concerned.

“Tadashi,” he says in an admonishing tone. “Why did you run away?” He’s pouting again, eyes overbright. Tadashi’s heart stutters in his chest; he’s always thought that Shimada is handsome, but this cute side is a surprise that he is totally unprepared for. His cheeks heat as his gaze drops back to Shimada’s mouth. He wishes he could kiss him again, but in the end, it still wouldn’t be real. It had taken a freaking love potion to make Shimada act like this, and the real Shimada is probably interested in someone else anyway… Someone more experienced, more capable, someone who wouldn’t accidentally brew a love potion in the first place. Tadashi feels himself deflating again, this time literally as he sinks to a sitting position on the floor; he draws his knees up and wraps his arms around them. Shimada gazes at him expectantly.

“I’m sorry, Shimada-san,” Tadashi says to his knees, not wanting to look at Shimada’s smiling face anymore. “This is all my fault.” 

“What is?” Shimada asks, plainly confused.

“All of this. You don’t really feel the way you think you do… This isn’t real. It’s just my messed up potion.”

“I love you, Tadashi,” Shimada says earnestly. Tadashi just sighs. Shimada grabs one of Tadashi’s hands with both of his own. “I love your cowlick,” he says, eyes flicking up to Tadashi’s piece of permanent flyaway hair. “And your freckles,” he adds, which makes Tadashi blush even as he huffs in disbelief. “They’re adorable,” Shimada says gravely, and Tadashi laughs a little in spite of himself. “I love the face you make when you’re concentrating, your nose gets all scrunchy and you stick your tongue out…”

Tadashi’s heart hurts - _oh_ how he wishes this were all real and true. On the other hand, he’s impressed by the strength of Shimada’s conviction; that potion really must have been a doozy to fool him like this.

“Shimada-san,” he starts, wanting Shimada’s litany of praises to cease immediately and to never end at the same time. Shimada pauses, but after searching Tadashi’s face and noting the obvious disbelief, he inhales like he’s preparing for a dive.

“Do you remember,” he asks, “when we found that abandoned Niffler?” 

Tadashi nods; the poor thing had clearly been neglected for a while before being tossed out on the street. They’d found it shortly after Tadashi had graduated from Hogwarts and started his apprenticeship at the apothecary, on the walk back from lunch at a nearby pub. Tadashi had heard it rifling around in a dumpster, and it had come straight up to him when he reached out for it. It did try to steal the buttons off his cloak, but he hadn’t minded; his second choice career had been something to do with the care of magical creatures. 

“That’s when,” Shimada says, interrupting Tadashi’s reminiscence.

“When what?” Tadashi asks, not following the line of thought.

“When I fell in love with you,” Shimada replies easily. 

Tadashi sucks in a breath noisily, shocked to the core. It’s not possible for a love potion to do this, right? He pauses to consider the ingredients for the first time. Nothing that the original recipe calls for should have any effect on memories or the feelings associated with them. The peppermint is added for stress relief; Tadashi hadn’t considered chocolate mint’s differing properties when substituting it, but now that he’s thinking about it, the answer is obvious. It must have interacted with the very small amount of licorice, which is added for flavor but also has love-attracting qualities. Clearly the combination of the two, plus the honey for sore throats, brought the love attributes to the forefront. When Tadashi thinks about it, the amount of those ingredients put together would make anyone act like this, but it’s not some kind of delusion or obsession… It’s just whatever is already there, and the potion coaxes the drinker to be a little more honest about their affections.

Tadashi breaks free of his reverie and turns wide eyes on Shimada, who is watching him patiently. He has no idea what to say now or where to begin.

“Shimada-san, I also-” he starts, but Shimada grimaces suddenly, hand flying to his temple.

“Tadashi… My head feels weird,” he says, and his expression is so wretched that all Tadashi wants to do is hold him until the pain passes. Of course the potion is wearing off _now_ , after Shimada’s revelation and Tadashi’s subsequent epiphany. 

Shimada blinks once, twice, and then his expression clears - and immediately morphs into one of true and utter mortification. 

“Shimada-san! Are you alright?” Tadashi leans forward, searching Shimada’s face urgently.

“Tadashi, just - I’m so sorry - please - forget everything I’ve been saying, the chocolate mint… I don’t know what I was thinking…” Shimada rambles, looking anywhere except at Tadashi. It hurts more than he’d like to admit. Tadashi sits back, gaze dropping to the floor as he returns to hugging his knees.

“Shimada-san,” he says quietly. It seems to get Shimada’s attention anyway; he stops stammering and stares at Tadashi nervously, looking like he’s prepared for the worst.

“I’m really sorry about the potion,” he says. “It was an accident. I would never let you test something like that on purpose. But,” he says as Shimada starts to interrupt, “what if I don’t want to forget?”

Steeling his nerves, he looks up, right into Shimada’s eyes. He can feel his cheeks burning furiously, and he’s staring so hard at Shimada he might as well be glaring, but if there is ever a time to bare his soul like this - it’s now. Here goes nothing, right?

“I’m also in love with you, Shimada-san.” 

Shimada inhales sharply, but he doesn’t speak. He still seems to be waiting for something.

“Ever since you started mentoring me in sixth year… Well, I wasn’t in love with you then, but I was interested in you. I wanted to know everything about you. I still do,” Tadashi says, embarrassment causing him to ramble at lightning speed. He thinks back to the first time he met Shimada. The apothecary employees take turns mentoring NEWT students at Hogwarts, and there were only a handful in Tadashi’s year. Shimada hadn’t stood out in the group of volunteers, but he had stopped at Tadashi’s cauldron and complimented the poison antidote he’d been working on, and they’d gotten into a discussion about how to apply Golpalott’s Third Law. The obvious breadth of Shimada’s knowledge struck Tadashi so strongly that he’d asked Shimada right then if he would be his mentor. Tadashi remembers the way Shimada’s eyebrows had shot up in surprise, but also how he'd agreed without hesitation.

Now here they are, together in the apothecary three years later. Tadashi knows a lot about Shimada: how he takes his tea, how he hates the cold but loves snow, how he’ll never charge someone for a healing potion. He loves every inch of him, inside and out, and suddenly the thought that Shimada might not know how he feels is unbearable.

“I love you. So… that’s all I wanted to say?” Tadashi finishes. He looks at the ceiling and laughs a little in spite of himself. Now that he’s laid his cards on the table, he feels vulnerable but lighter somehow, like a weight has been lifted. When Shimada still doesn’t say anything, Tadashi makes himself look at him again. Shimada is flushed bright pink, which is unacceptably charming, and even though his expression is hesitant, it’s much less nervous. Tadashi’s gaze drops, unbidden, to Shimada’s mouth.

“Oh,” Tadashi says, and his cheeks flare with heat again. “Shimada-san… I’m really sorry. About the kissing.”

Shimada closes his eyes as if he’s just remembering that part of his day, and his flush deepens considerably. He takes a deep breath and opens his eyes, finally looking at Tadashi again.

“I’m not,” he says. 

_Maybe I inhaled some kind of fumes earlier_ , Tadashi thinks, _because I am definitely hallucinating right now._

“Well, I’m sorry that our first kiss had to happen like that, of course. Did Tsukki tell you to try a kiss?” Shimada continues, smiling at Tadashi for the first time since he returned to normal. Tadashi’s heart rejoices.

“Yes,” he mumbles, feeling ridiculous. Shimada huffs a small laugh and regards Tadashi fondly from his position near the fire. They lapse into silence, which begins comfortably enough but grows more charged as the minutes tick by. Shimada fidgets and adjusts his glasses for the umpteenth time when Tadashi finally decides he just can’t take anymore.

“We could try again,” he offers, peeking at Shimada over the top of his knees. Shimada sits up ramrod-straight at his words, as if he's been struck with a Full Body Bind Curse. They stare at each other for a long moment.

“Alright,” Shimada says slowly. He doesn’t move, so Tadashi shuffles forward on his knees until they’re close enough to touch. Shimada’s eyes are wide behind his glasses, but he’s smiling just a little, and it’s his usual, kind smile that Tadashi loves so much. 

Tadashi leans forward just a bit and closes the distance between their lips. Though he thought the first time was good, this kiss is incomparable; Shimada is kissing back softly, tipping Tadashi’s jaw up gently with his fingers to change the angle. He makes a small noise of contentment against Tadashi’s mouth and then pulls back to nip lightly at his bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth, and Tadashi’s brain is officially fried.

When the kisses turn from close-mouthed and chaste to open and hungry, Tadashi pulls back, gasping for air. In the process of “trying again,” he’s maneuvered himself into straddling Shimada’s lap; he leans back carefully, hands on Shimada's shoulders, and studies Shimada’s face. He wonders if his current expression matches Shimada’s: dazed but obviously pleased, eager but also satisfied. Neither of them can seem to stop smiling.

“Tadashi,” Shimada says, and Tadashi’s heart throbs with everything new he can hear in the way Shimada says his name.

“Yes, Shimada-san?”

“Please be more careful with ingredient substitutions,” Shimada says, trying to appear stern but failing miserably as he continues to smile up at Tadashi. Tadashi can’t help it; he laughs, loud and happy, and presses his forehead to Shimada’s affectionately.

“Yes, Shimada-san.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell with me about ShimaYams (or rare pairs in general) on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/wingspike)!


End file.
